Forever Dead

I watched this as part of a 50 movie no budget collection called Catacomb of Creepshows. This definitely was not the worst in the collection.

I love horror movies. I am a fan of micro-budget horror films. I make them myself so I appreciate anyone who has the fortitude and the courage to attempt and then complete one. That doesn't mean they are all good, that doesn't mean they are even watchable.

Problems: Much too long. Should have had at least 20 minutes cut. Script was too loose, definitely should have been tightened up. Most of the acting could have been improved upon. The tendency in these types of movies is to use friends and relatives. In most places there is a pretty large contingent of actors and actresses who are willing to act in low dollar projects just to have the opportunity to work. Take advantage of that.Please use the sticks. Hand-held cameras should be outlawed in low budget films. Light it please. Find someone with a photography background to use as your DP or learn to light. Light kits don't have to be expensive and they make a world of difference.

Good points: They looked like they enjoyed themselves. Some of the gore was pretty good. The special effects were laughable but fun.

Not a complete waste of time but I hope they learned something from this one and do better on the next.

...in a certain respect they're right. When Compared to higher budget horror, and more specifically zombie, flicks it's crap. Complete trash. But when you realize it's made completely on the cheap, with a group of friends, locals, and nearby extras and industry people it's just about as good as anyone could do. It's cheesy, over the top, sub-par edited, and the sound effects are definitely old school. But I loved it. It's a great truly indie horror. Fun and gory. I think the only complaint I really had about the movie was the long haired redneck that kept staring at the camera. Other than that small issue I got what I expected. Stop being so hard on people who do what they can with what they've got, and start being harder on this high budget cow pile industry that keeps force feeding you multi million dollar "independent" flicks and series movies that don't even stay true to the source material.

I'm actually viewing the film for the first time as I write this, which you may consider a bit unfair as it might get better in the 36 mins left to go...but then again, I didn't exactly look at the time remaining because I'm enjoying it. I bought this in a triple-pack with Swamp Zombies & Stiff Odds (not a good idea to call it 'The Zombie Chronicles', distributors Brain Damage Films, as the 2001 release of the same name has a really BAD reputation amongst zomgeeks...) as a friend recommended Swamp Zombies to me (& if this was FaceBook I'd seriously consider unFRIENDing the person who did so). Having sat through Swamp Zombies I thought lo-to-no-budget zomflix had scraped the bottom of the barrel - until I started watching this turkey. I'd like to point out that I've never even held a camcorder but reckon my elderly neighbour with Parkinson's could have made a better job of filming this. Should come with anti-depressants included in the case. AVOID.

This film has lots of creativity with a very small budget. Being in the film, I have seen it a number of times. I recently saw "The Forever Dead" screened in front of about 50 people. There were laughs and cheers when the zombie rabbit showed up. There were moans of disgust during some of the more gory scenes. If you want to entertain your friends with a film that will make you laugh between scenes of extreme gore, this is it. If you like horror films that have some comedy in them like Evil Dead, this film is for you. I don't expect this film to win any academy awards or be made into a musical, but it isn't Hollywood cookie cutter crap like Legally Blonde 4 either.

Now I'm a great believer in finding new talent to inject new life into the horror genre, but unfortunately this film fails on the very basic level of film making. I started watching this hoping for another "Bad Taste". (Peter Jackson's first feature), unfortunately from the get go the director Christine Parker gets it all wrong.

Obscure Camera angles and shaking cameras are not a very good start. If the film was being filmed like "cloverfield" you might be able to get away with it, but the worst problem for me was the actor's awareness of the cameras.

Mind you I suppose with the camera positioned at such stupid angles and incredible close up to the actors face maybe it was off putting. One last point about the film is the sound, the music is very important in setting tension and so forth, all we had in this film was a few completely inappropriately placed music tracks.

The rest of the time it was quiet. So, all in all the director Christine Parker is not a fresh new talent waiting to be discovered. I wish I could say something positive about this film but I can't.

It would be easy for me to say don't let any of these guys near a camera again, but we all have to start somewhere.

I hope they have learned from this film, and you're next feature is hundred times better.

Before you do your next zombie feature why don't you rent out "bad taste" or "Dead Alive" to see what really can be accomplished on a relatively low budget.